Paul Simon said he’s celebrating his new chance at an Oscar after a paperwork mistake likely kept his song “Mrs. Robinson” out of the competition 35 years ago.
The singer-songwriter received his first Academy Award nomination Tuesday for “Father and Daughter,” from the animated “The Wild Thornberrys Movie.”
He said many people erroneously believe he was nominated for “Mrs. Robinson,” which he and former collaborator Art Garfunkel sang in 1967’s “The Graduate.”
“We forgot to fill in the forms,” Simon acknowledged with a laugh. “You know, it was the ’60s. We just weren’t paying attention. We went along our way and never filled it in. That’s what happened.”
“Talk to the Animals” from “Doctor Dolittle” claimed the movie song honor at that year’s Oscars.
Simon, 61, said his three young children inspired him to write a song for “The Wild Thornberrys Movie,” a feature film version of a popular Nickelodeon cartoon.
“It was something that the kids watched,” he said. “I thought of it as an opportunity to write a song for a movie that the kids could see.”
Simon is competing against U2 for “The Hands That Built America” from “Gangs of New York;” “Burn It Blue” from “Frida,” by Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor; “I Move On” from “Chicago,” by John Kander and Fred Ebb; and “Lose Yourself” from “8 Mile,” by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.
